BEACON BAPTIST CHURCH
MISSION TO THE AMAZIONI
REPORT JANUARY 2019
We praise God for His amazing grace. The similarities between our times and those experienced by the prophet Isaiah are too stark to be ignored. There is political turmoil, financial instability, the legal system is being severely tested, the poor are struggling to make ends meet while the rich seem to be blissfully unaware of their plight. The prophet Isaiah was sent to call the people to repentance, and he did so by declaring the judgement of God – He set out many examples of the judgement of Almighty God on the nations, both current and imminent for the people of his day. A recurring refrain in the early chapters is “Yet for all this, the wrath of God was not turned away…”. As we see the hand of Almighty God resting heavily on South Africa, in judgement for past and current sin, how thankful we are for His grace… that His wrath has been turned away from His people, because of the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ! Truly, “there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus…” Romans 8:1. Praise God for His amazing grace!
As we contemplate the year ahead, we are more convinced than ever that the good news of God’s grace in Christ must be the centre of all that we think, say, and do… Pray with us that this may be so in our mission to the Amazioni. It is going to be a very busy year…
Items for prayer:
• Bible School Classes resumed on 12 January as we enter the 4th year curriculum.
o Pray for the students, old and new, that God will bless them richly.
• We have been hard at work translating biblestudy notes for Romans and Hebrews for inclusion in the 4th year curriculum (for the first time). Pray for the work of translation which forms a key part of our endeavours.
• Mukhanyo University Classes resumed on 26 January – as we continue to review Church History. Pray for the classes that they will be blessed as they see the hand of God at work down through the Church Age.
• We have a new school opening in Aliwal North – pray for our teachers Velem and Rude in Queenstown as they stretch to accommodate the new classes in their area – they currently have classes in Queenstown, Lady Frere, Dordrecht, and Ncora.
• We have a new school opening in Flagstaff North– pray for our teachers Xolo and Tunywashe as they take on this additional burden. They currently have classes in Mthatha, Maclear, Matatiele, Ntabankulu, Flagstaff South, Bizana, Magusheni, and Lusikisiki.
• We continue with our classes in Port Alfred, Fort Beaufort, King Williamstown, Mdantsane, East London, Gonubie and Mpukane. Pray for our teachers Matanga, Mabhena, Lanket, Lugebu, and Ntlokwana.
• Pray for all the students. They are hungry for the Word of God, yet the enemy of their souls will do his worst to prevent them from attending class. Pray that they may be given grace to be faithful, that they may be born again from above, of the Spirit, and that they may be set free from the bondage of ancestral worship.
The ZEMA Conference was held from 2 to 7 January 2019 in Stanger. It was our privilege to attend for the first part, at which the missionaries gave their reports. How thrilling it was to hear of the work of God going forward across the country. Some highlights for prayer and thanksgiving:
• Missionaries have been invited to speak with the leader of the Zionist Church at Moriah near Polokwane to explain our ministry of teaching the Word of God. This is a huge door, to 8 million Zionists, that has been closed for decades. Pray for God to open the door.
• World-wide old mission organisations are shedding numbers and slimming down in size, while small church based missions endeavours are growing exponentially.
• Many from the West are being told that “the Unreached Peoples have now been reached” – and there are expectations that “the task of missions will be complete within this generation”… This is a worrying trend, as it serves to diminish support for missions rather than increase it. There is clearly a growing need for a biblical theology of missions!
Here close to home, we rejoice to see the hand of God at work.
• Luaan has been doing the series “This we believe” with a group of deaf people. The Spirit of God has opened hearts there and now many seek to be baptised as a witness to their faith in Christ.
• A bible school across the Kei River includes a pastor who is 82 years old. He was converted by the Spirit of God in 1960, and began to pray for someone to come and teach them the bible. This school started there in 2015… after 55 years of waiting in prayer… praise God for this evidence of His sustaining grace, and for the open hearts of those thirsting for the truth of the Word.
• A Zionist church in Mdantsane has been doing the “This we believe” course, and now the church leaders and all the members are seeking to baptised – because they have come to faith in Christ, and their former “baptisms were just works of the flesh as they tried to establish a righteousness of their own.” Glory to God for His grace!
We continue to pray to the Lord of the harvest – please send out workers – the fields are ready for harvest and the sun is setting!
Ron Eardley
28 January 2019.